A great blast from the past

The recent approval to increase the salary (“privy purse”) of the Singapore president reminded me of a speech that Ms Sylvia Lim made in parliament in 2007 when the PAP government voted to give themselves a pay rise.

I am happy to pay someone well and especially for good work done. Anyone who is elected into office is accountable to those who elected them. This is universally understood and accepted. However, the PAP government has over the years, continued to spin the (false) justification that “it is hard to find good people to run the country unless you pay them well”. Really?